Horse Shopping: Part 2

Bonus post tonight! The hubby is out of town, I picked up the cat from the boarder (we had some light construction on the house and both Paul and I were out of town this week), and picked up some staples from Trader Joes (red wine, oyster crackers, tomato soup, and ice cream). Settling in for a relaxing evening! 

I realized that when describing the horse shopping experience yesterday that I didn't actually mention that we looked at 7 horses, 9 if you count the two out of my price range.

Our first stop of the day was in California, a local-ish barn close to Reddings. They're known for having sale horses that fall into the lower budget range.
I should also add that often times horses coming to this barn require some research- there's little to no backstory to be given.

First up was Tad, a 10 year old that, while he was priced at 35K, did not sell at Thermal and was sent to this sale barn. He also has a screw in is hock from a surgery as a foal.
I did enjoy riding him, but he had some trouble getting is back end in lead changes and kept wanting to break from the canter. He jumped around fine with me but had two fairly dirty stops when the assistant was showing him. We decided to pass on making an offer because something just didn't feel quite right.

Tad is a handsome devil though!

They brought out a big, grey, jumper mare. She was one of those "if you can fix her she could be spectacular" horses. Except do I really want to tackle a rearing problem? No thank you. 

Next up was Missy, a 5 year old thoroughbred mare who had been a rescue. She looked nice enough and had a cute jump. When I hopped on and asked for the canter (I NEED to work on my canter departs regardless) she sucked back with ears pinned. And would not go. I felt like a dumbass but Kelly assured me that everyone feels like a pony clubber on the back of a green horse. Regardless she was just a little too young for me. 

I'm sure sweet Missy will find a home soon!

Finally another grey gelding. Kelly had seen him around the circuit and wasn't keen on the way he fussed with his head. Pass. 

We scooted in our fabulous Doge Ram 1500 that I had rented to get us over Donner Pass over to Reno to check out Ellie. We enjoyed her enough to plan a trip back to see her the next morning. 

Little Egypt looking adorbs! Although she looks a bit like a giraffe here.

My next vehicle!

The last barn we stopped at was down the street from the first Reno barn. They had a sweet bay gelding out in the ring, and while he looked like a schoolmaster, was also 15 and looked off in the right front. 

They also brought out 11 year old JuneBug, a bay mare, who was very clearly lame. Slightly embarrassing for them I thought. 

An interesting trip all in all. I think I got a full spectrum look at what my budget will buy me. I'm looking forward to the weekend with two lessons on Ellie and a pre purchase exam on Monday!